June 19, 2013

The Significance of West Allis to IndyCar

There must come a time when common sense must trump business decisions based solely on numbers. The IndyCar race at Milwaukee is just such an example. Since the Andretti folks have taken over promotion of the event they have begun to mend fences related to the horrific ways in which IndyCar events had been promoted there. Crowds have been relatively good, and the racing has been spectacular despite weather challenges that seem to crop up every year. Great, flat one mile ovals are hard to come by, and that track’s status as being older than Indianapolis is important from an historic standpoint. In other words losing it is not acceptable.

Squatting road racing enthusiasts who for decades have been attempting in one way or another to hijack the sport and make IndyCar an F-1 like collection of non-ovals except for perhaps Indianapolis have long been clamoring for a return to Road America. That is fine but it should never come at the expense of the Milwaukee Mile. And while IndyCar is at it, why not ovals at Kentucky and Chicagoland?

The Milwaukee race this past weekend is ample proof that is a venue that should be preserved, nurtured and enhanced. It is wonderful that Pocono is back after 34 years as well as Fontana. IndyCar must make the ovals count. It is too important a part of the legacy to be allowed to dwindle.

Miles and crew need an effective strategy to put muscle behind the attractive philosophy of have the fastest, most diverse (in terms of venue) drivers anywhere. There are a lot of great natural terrain road courses, and those should be included. But not at the expense of any remaining oval.

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While I could not catch the Milwaukee race live this year, I enjoyed the race on TV on ESPN while I was in Bogota, Colombia (strange, but ESPN broadcasts events in Latin America that are televised here in the US by competitors like NBC Sports and Fox)…unfortunately, I could not help but notice the huge swaths of empty seats in the grandstand, especially the good seats high up in the main deck. Defender, of course we want to keep our current ovals and add a bunch more, as well as more road and street courses so the season spans from the week after Super Bowl though Labor Day, but how the hell can the series survive if nobody attends the events? I would say that attendance is not important if the series had strong TV viewership but the ratings are as low as the live attendance. If few show up to watch and few bother to tune in on TV, how can this series survive, much less grow and expand the fan base? Perhaps now is the time for massive ticket giveaways like Marlboro did back in the days of sponsoring Penske, to fill in the stands and draw more casual fans into the series. We have witnessed the decline of crows in the stands and eyes on TV screens but there has to come a day when the series runs so far into the red that it reaches the point of no return…and unlike our beloved federal government that can just keep printing money and borrowing from the Chinese, Indy Car can’t go to the Hulman-George fortune, or what’s left of it, for support….

“d-e-r-a-n-g-e-d”. Road America is a horsepower track…therefore the belief that a cadre of crapwagons can “muscle” their way around a challenging four-mile course without creating a Sominex Effect upon those unfortunate enough to stumble upon this so-called “race” goes so far beyond delusion that it should require a thorough cranial examination of its perpetrators. What is it with you hIRLturds anyway? Not going to be satisfied until you infect every remaining former cart track with your miserable brand of “motorsport” and drive it into oblivion?Editor’s Note: I’m perfectly happy not going to Road America. The children of the cart (you epitomize the stereotype I described perfectly) can then continue their quaint wet dream fantasy about something that no longer exists and I will continue being perfectly happy.

I disagree…Road America is one of a handful of venues in this country that drivers of all disciplines truly enjoy and not having Indy Car race on this track diminishes the series…if we could add a few more ovals, like Phoenix, Richmond, Rockingham but not 1.5 mile death traps like Vegas, as well as Road America, Laguna Seca and Portland, we can have a winning schedule like we had back in the good old days of the mid 90’s….

‘death traps’ aren’t limited to ovals. toronto and laguna seca come to mind. even vancouver when a corner worker got run over. two of these accidents happened because of idiotic driving, the other inexperience. it’s a dangerous sport no matter what the discipline. bad things can happen at speed.

Heh, heh…Won’t be long before those wankers are gonna have to pay tracks to open their door to them. And pay again on the way out to have the place fumigated.Editor’s Note: We’ve all heard ‘won’t be long’ for seventeen years. With each passing one you kids look even more stupid.